The political heat generated in Telangana following the resignation of former Congress MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy from his assembly seat in the first week of August seems to have subsided all of a sudden.
After PCC president A Revanth Reddy’s public meeting in the first week, followed by the meetings of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Union home minister Amit Shah in the third week heated up the political atmosphere in Munugode.
But now, nothing much is happening on the ground. While it is evident that Rajagopal Reddy will be contesting the by-elections, the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi are yet to announce their candidates, though on paper, both the parties are said to be doing a lot of exercise.
Sources, however, said the main reason for the main parties slowing down their aggression in Munugode is the reports from New Delhi that the by-election might not be held in the immediate future.
According to the reports reaching the Telangana Rashtra Samiti leadership, the BJP is not keen on having the by-election to Munugode immediately, as the party is not well-prepared to face it.
“There are many negative points that might work against Rajagopal Reddy in the by-poll and if it is held immediately, he is bound to lose,” these reports said.
Going by the Election Commission of India rules, a by-election will be held within six months from the date of the seat falling vacant. As such, the by-poll to Munugode can be held by February 2022.
Initially, there were speculations that the by-election to Munugode might be held along with the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat which are likely to be held in October or November.
Now, according to the latest reports, the BJP central leadership is learnt to have asked the EC to conduct the Munugode bypoll in January, so that the party will get some breathing time and sufficient strength to fight the elections.
If the election is delayed, the BJP will get time to recoup its energy and work out strategies in a better way. It will also find time to attract as many leaders as possible from other parties, sources said.